Fifth Gilgo Beach victim identified as Karen Vergata, police say

Investigators have identified a fifth Gilgo Beach victim as Karen Vergata, police in Long Island announced Friday.

Until now, authorities had referred to the unidentified victim as Fire Island Jane Doe, authorities said at a morning news conference.

Vergata was 34 years old at the time of her disappearance in 1996, police said at the news conference. She had been living in Manhattan and was believed to be working as an escort when she went missing, police said.

"It's wonderful that they have an identity now for this Jane Doe. And I'm sure it offers welcome information for her family," said Robert Kolker, author of "Lost Girls," a book about sex workers whose remains were found on Long Island in recent decades.

The human remains authorities now identified as Vergata's were found separately on Long Island more than a decade ago, police said. Her legs were found in 1996 near Davis Park and her skull was found in 2011 on Tobay Beach, police said. The beaches are more than 20 miles apart.

"This Jane Doe is interesting because the first portion of her remains was found so long ago," Kolker said. The first of the "Gilgo Four" to disappear went missing in 2007, he said.

The two sets of remains were linked by comparing DNA. Later, using a swab from the inside of a relative's cheek, police identified the remains as Vergata's.

No one has been charged in connection to her killing at this time, police said.

Police did not say whether Vergata has been linked to the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, who was arrested in New York last month and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of three women whose remains were found over a decade ago on Long Island. He has pleaded not guilty. Police say they connected him to the women's remains using DNA evidence detectives matched between his left-over pizza crust and an item linked to one of the women's remains.

Based on the condition of Vergata's body, Kolker said he doesn't see a clear connection to Heuermann, as the remains of the victims he is accused of killing were not separated.

"This victim's remains were found in two locations that were very, very, very far away from one another," Kolker said. "It suggests a different pattern from the Gilgo Four, where the remains were more or less intact and in one place. The question is, is this the same killer who merely modified his tactics?"

Unfortunately, Kolker said, Long Island historically has been a "convenient dumping ground" for victim remains.

Heuermann is charged in the killings of Megan Waterman, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. The bodies of the women, who authorities say were sex workers, were found wrapped in burlap on Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach.

Heuermann also is a prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, but has not been charged in that case.

Together, Waterman, Barthelemy, Costello and Brainard-Barnes are known as the Gilgo Beach Four, according to police in Long Island.

Last month, after a 12-day search at Heuermann's home, investigators said they found "massive" amounts of evidence, including a cache of weapons.